Of Doctors and Dinners

"Good evening sir." Nyra stepped up smiling at the dapper gentleman. "Mr. Swiftwood said we were not to make search engine jokes, which will be quite easy for me as I dont know what a 'search engine' is." she giggled and entered the house.

Following Aron to the doors, Serena smiled at Jeeves and studied the older man. He seemed nice enough, not that she'd ever met any butlers before. 'Self - this is one of the weirdest and possibly stupidest things you've done. Just so it's on record.' Smiling at herself and her insecurities she prepared to enter into the house and what ever waited inside for dinner.

"Well, let us find Dr. Peterson then, so we can get your arm fixed before dinner"

The hall was large, fairly dark and fitted well with the lego style of the outside, a door was open, which lead into a huge library, the walls covered with books of every kind and age. In the middle sat a man in his 60's. In one hand he had a worn book, and in the other a glas of single malt. He was slightly overweight, had silver hair and a full beard. Had the location been another one might have mistaken him for Santa Claus.

Nyra followed Aron, Master Aron to Jeeves apparently, deeper into the house. It was darker than she liked, but then she was used to sweeping expanses of glass and skylights.

They came up to an open door which apparently was the library from the books lining its walls. It was so vast she was sure small school children could get a PhD and never have to leave this room. He must have a large family to need so much room, she thought.

The man in the center of the room made Nyra smile and wish to sit on his lap. She was sure he would be as good at doctoring her arm as he was at reassuring people with him familiar and friendly appearance. Nyra stood close to Mr. Swiftwood, awaiting an introduction.

((Its a long commute home, permission to move and treat her wounds granted.))

"Dr Peterson, thank you for comming. This is Nyra, the reason for you to come"

Peterson smiled to her and got out of the chair.

"Nice to meet you Nyra, please, call me Tom. Now let's take a look at that arm of yours"

With the hands of a person who had been doing this sort of thing for the major part of his life, he carefully removed the bandage from her arm.

"Sheesh girl, did you enter a fencing contest? Good thing it was treated so well or you'd be getting a nasty scar. You must have a guardian angel, even missed the artery."

From a large black doctors handbag he took a small bottle with an orange substance and applied it to the wound.

"Cleans and sedates. Almost as good as scotch. Now we'll just give you a few stitches and it will be right as rain"

With amazing dexteriness he sewed and dressed the wound and then moved on to checking the other wounds. He cleaned them and dressed them again.

"No need to sew in more of that pretty skin. Now unless anyone else needs my attention, I think I'll be heading home to the mrs"

((No prob at all, I'm afraid I'll have to go to bed now though...))

Walking into the library, Serena glanced around and mentally shook her head. 'I never dreamed those big movie sets were really based in reality.. Daaamn.'

Walking in she found a chair between the door and the doctor and flopped down, setting her bags and Nyra's backpack down at her feet. She smiled at the doctor, nodding her head as she looked around.

S'up doc..

Rachyl entered with the other two women, and greeted "Jeeves," who seemed a nice enough fellow.

As they were escorted through the house, she did her best to keep track of exits or windows, her worry about "what might happen" overriding any appraisal she might start to tally.

She hovered over the doctor as he cared for Nyra, then bid him good night as he stood to leave.

"What's up? Not much I'm afraid. Didn't expect to find bunnygirls in Aron's house, but then again I didn't really expect to be called here this time of the night. Thanks a lot for the single malt by the way"

"Once again, thank you for comming."

Aron turned to the ladies. "I believe Jeeves said something about dinner being ready"

The dining hall was through a series of corridors, and was like almost everything in the house, rather big. There could easily have been another 30 people there, but the table was only set for four. There was not yet any food on the table, but an open bottle of south african red wine and a jug of ice water stood in the middle.

"Jeeves, what happened to the italian wine?"

"Well sir, as I'm sure you're aware, meat in chinese food needs to be seasoned for at least couple of hours, which I did not have, so I took the liberty of making something different, for which the south african wine would be better suited"

Aron sighed. "Very well, what are we having then?"

Jeeves answered by comming in with 3 plates of spaghetti carbonara and vegetarian spaghetti bolognese.

"You didn't think an italian wine suited spaghetti? Very well...My ladies, it would appear dinner is ready"

((ok, so maybe this was my last post for the evening...))

Nyra sat still and paitently through the clean up on her arm. Thankfully three stiches were in swiftly and the doctor pronounced her fit. Thanking him greatfully as he left.

She followed Aron to the dining room and sat down in the seat Jeeves pulled out for her. "Thank you very much Jeeves for this lovely meal. It looks fabulous."

She sat with her hands in her lap awaiting the others to take their places as well. The plate before her smelled heavenly so she closed her eyes and leaning forward slightly took a deep breath and held it while sitting back in her seat. A serene smile on her face as she exhaled slowly.

"I think perhaps this dinner is worth getting a slice on my arm." she smiled at Aron.

They wandered for enough time to be through 4 or 5 of Rena's apartments and she made careful notes of how many doors and what turns, at least she tried to to. The place was so big you couldn't be exactly certain.

In the dining room proper she tried not to stare too much. It was more like a restaurant than a dining table. 'Makes me think of that scene from Batman when he and Catwoman are having dinner and have to yell to each other..' She chuckled and glanced back and forth down the table realizing that was all too accurate.

Glancing at the table she sat down in one of the far seats, taking her napin and folding it in her lap then clasping her hands on top of it. She had that same uptight, slightly uncomfortable feeling like she got in really fancy restaurants, when she was never quite sure what to use when and how to act.

Spaghetti carbonara huh? Well we'll just see.. my Nonna made a seriously good one so I'm a little picky. She smiled at Aron and Jeeves, wondering how little she could get away with eating and not look too rude. Then again, she was a sucker for Itallian food so she hoped she could restrain herself.

Hey Rach, come sit by me. Serena patted a chair beside her.

((OOC I should be otw home soon so probably my last for the night as well))

Rachyl took a seat close to Serena and Nyra, and slid the plate close to herself. She opened the napkin and placed it on her lap.

Turning to Jeeves, she thanked him, then turned back to Mr. Swiftwood. "Thank you very much for inviting us, Mr. Swiftwood, though it was completely unnecessary."

Aron poured wine in his, Rachyls and Serena's glasses and water in Nyra's. He took a sip of his own, and discovered that Jeeves had indeed been right, the wine was excellent.

"I'm very glad you like it" He said to Nyra and returned her smile with one of his own.

He turned to Rachyl and Rena. "You two seem awfully tense. I'm very sorry if the whole thing has startled you, but relax, feel at home. You have nothing to fear as guests in my house, why whould you have?"

Once again he used his suggestive powers in an attempt to make them relax, let down their guard. After all they did not have anything to fear from him, after all he had no intention of forcing himself upon them. He took a bite of his spaghetti, it melted on his tongue. Jeeves had over a century's worth of cooking experience and even a vampire had to appreciate his skills. Aron noted he had added garlic in the salad, his idea of a private joke.

Rachyl kept feeling something tickling at the back of her mind, a quiet voice telling her to relax... But she couldn't.

The parallels were too eerie.

She picked up her fork as she looked at Mr. Swiftwood, using the shining implement to punctuate what she was saying.

"Did you ever have a bad experience that, once in a while, something might happen that seems to be an almost exact mirror of it? It's not deja vu, though, if you could have a... positive deja vu of a negative memory, maybe that would be closer to the truth. Like looking into the bowl of a spoon. Upside down and reversed."

She waved her fork and pointed to the other women. "Circumstances might be different. The previous experience's memories might color your emotions of the new. And yet, it is with both positive and negative memories that we learn caution, spontaneity, joy... So many different things happen to a single person that make her into who she is, and it's just not easy to push those things away, as it is to push spaghetti onto a fork and stuff your mouth full of food."

Rachyl realized as she spoke, her voice quiet - and yet, she thought she might have been yelling - she was letting a tiny bit of anxiety color her perception of the night's events, and that maybe she didn't need to. If he was a "bad man" he might not necessarily engage upon those tendencies with three women... unless there was something wrong with the food or drink.

She turned to Jeeves hovering nearby. "I realize it's customary and polite to sip of the same cup as the host, but I'd just like some water, please," she asked, as she twirled some spaghetti onto her fork.

Nyra gently scooped the pasta, vegetables and sauce onto her fork and placed it into her mouth. She closed her eyes as she let the bite sit on her tongue, savoring the melding of flavors before begining to chew. Her first bite was followed by a content smile and quiet sigh. She listened to Rachyl as she took her next few bites. She mulled over the shorter woman's distress while Jeeves poured water into a glass.

Clearing her throat she said in a peacefull but firm voice "When we are upset, it's easy to blame others. However, the ture cause of our feelings is within us. For example, imagine yourself as a glass of water. Now, imagine past negative experiences as sediment at the bottom of your glass. Next think of others as spoons. When one stirs, the sediment clouds your water. Ite may appear that the spoon caused the water to cloud - but if there were no sediment, the water would remain clear no matter what. The key, then, is to identify our sediment and actively work to remove it. Josei Toda."

Putting down her fork, Nyra reached down for her backpack she had tucked next to her feet upon sitting. She rummaged around inside of it briefly before placing a small 3" by 3" book with purple flowers on the front on the table. She swiftly replaced her bag and straightened herself up, then pushed the book towards Rachyl.

"Open Your Mind, Open Your Life by Taro Gold. Fabulous little pick me up kind of book with lovely quotes. Keep it as a thank you for helping me. Inside there are many things that you may find inspirational. I know I certainly did. My favorite is: As spring water rushes through open earth, so happiness flows through open lives."

Nyra smiled at Rachyl warmly and resumed eating slowly, savoring every bite.

Aron thought about Rachyls words, he knew exactly what she ment.

"I have had...similar...experiences. Knowing that the next moment, something bad will happen, the nightmares will come back to life. And yet...they never do. The key is, to use Nyra's metaphor, to find the straw that will allow you to get rid of the sediment"

Aron looked like he was lost in thought for a moment, then added

"Ofcourse you might never find the straw, and it will haunt you for the rest of your life"

Jeeves had in the meantime gotten another glass for Rachyl, in which he poured the ice water.

"Master Aron, you should be careful or the young women will have you drunk before the evening is over" he said, in a voice that did not reveil the amusement clearly showed in his eyes.

Rachyl smiled her thanks as she slid the book closer. "Thank you."

She rested her fork against the side of the plate, still with spaghetti twirled on it, as she conversed, "It's interesting that you should use the sediment and water analogy. When I was... when I visited my therapist, the analogy I used was a glass of milk, with a spoonful of chocolate syrup. Keep in mind, I despise plain white milk, and have, for as long as I can remember, mixed flavor into it, be it cereal or strawberry or chocolate. Have you tried the vanilla stuff? Mmmm!" Rachyl shook her head slightly, dislodging that tangent.

"She told me something similar, that new experiences will always stir up the old ones, and that I should, as you said, push them away. I told her that the chocolate syrup represented my bad experiences, and that no matter how much fresh, white milk was added, there'd always be a slight tinge of darkness, and it could never again be fully pure."

She picked up the fork again, resting it vertically in the dish. "I'm not a fearful woman... Outside of the normal things every woman, every human, fears, I accept most punches that fly my way, and do my best to roll with them. It's just that occasionally, some of the punches seem to be the same fist."

Thanking Jeeves with a silent nod when he set down the plate of really good smelling spaghetti Serena picked up her fork and spoon. 'Wow this is nice,' she thought looking at the fine silverware. She slowly wound up a small bit of pasta and sauce, twirling it on her spoon debating for a brief second and then took a bite. Her eyes closed and with a appreciative, soft 'mmmm' she savored the exquisite food. With a mental shrug she took her wine glass and tried a small sip. With slightly raised eyebrows she nodded at her host approvingly.

She listened as Rachyl spoke, glancing at her periodicaly and studying her. There was something in the woman's past, something tragic. That was something she could understand very well. Briefly Serena wondered what had happened, but then she pushed the thought away. At the moment it didn't matter what it was. If she chose to share then Rena would see if she could help, otherwise it wasn't any of her business.

While the other two women talked she took a few small bites, mainly just pushing the food around to make it look like she'd eaten more. It pained her to eat so little of the fabulous pasta. But better safe than sorry she told herself firmly. Then ate another bite.

She glanced at the book Nyra had given to Rachyl. It was a nice gesture, and a sweet thought. Personally, Serena knew she would never be able to let go of her own demons, at least not until she had some sense of revenge.

She spoke quietly, voice laced with touches of sadness. You have a really kind heart it seems Nyra. But sometimes.. some pains are so deep you can't let go. I'm sure Rachyl knows what I mean. She shook her head and took a deep breath. Listen to us getting all sappy and mopey! No more of that now. I propose a toast.. she raised her wineglass towards Aron at the head of the table

To our gallant host, a fine gentleman rescuing the damsel in distress. It's good to see he didn't die a long time ago. Die out, I mean. She shook her head with a grin at the other two at her 'mistake'.

At Serena's toast - and rather odd choice of words - she raised her wineglass as well. "To gallantry and chivalry."

"You're far too kind. My kind is more resillient than most people seem to realize" he said with a playful smile.

For a moment Aron toyed with the thought of showing his fangs and saying "buh!", but he dismissed it imediatly. He might have confronted Serena with the whole thing, perhaps even with Nyra present. He didn't think she would be that upset really, however Rachyl was another matter. If the scars he could sense in her soul were as deep as he suspected, he would not be the one to reopen the wound.

"Glad to see there's at least one person who's willing to share these bloodred drops with me"

Knowing she was quite naive even at her age, which she judged to be the oldest woman here, she could not be quite sure of Mr. Swiftwoods age. She hoped the small book gave Rachyl some comfort as well as the therapist. The past should only be a memory not a daily reminder in her opinion.

"True gentlemen that rescue damsels in distress do seem to be a dying breed. I for one am extremely glad they are not extinct." Nyra raised her water glass to Aron as Serena and Rachyl had and smiled warmly at him.